Der Blogger

"Enough is enough!" "This can't go on!" "This has to stop!" These were among the comments that came through the blizzard of commentary after the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County. We have heard these words before.

Wanderlust

As a travel destination, Germany has never been more popular. With tourist numbers forecast to rise for an eighth consecutive year, what is the country doing right to account for its thriving visitor numbers?

Akademia

For education experts, English language lessons have proven valuable in primary schools in North Rhine-Westphalia. But the Alternative for Germany’s state parliamentary group in NRW have a rather different view.

Essen & Trinken

Police in the city of Osnabrück had to clear crowds in front of a new döner kebab shop on Tuesday, after about 150 hungry people packed the street outside, eager to get their hands on a döner for only €0.01.

Germericana

Many Americans have German ancestors — and that's also the case for actress Meghan Markle, who will be marrying Prince Harry, himself a descendant of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, a German dynasty.

German government demands action on Amri cover-up

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere expressed his shock on Thursday after allegations surfaced that officials for the state government of Berlin had committed gross misconduct handling the case of Anis Amri, the perpetrator of the deadliest Islamist terror attack on German soil.

“This is an unconscionable allegation, and I expect from everyone involved in the state of Berlin a very thorough and transparent explanation,” de Maiziere said on the sidelines of a meeting of European Union interior ministers in Brussels.

On Wednesday, Berlin’s interior minister, Andreas Geisel, announced to the public that he had reason to suspect an extensive cover-up relating to Amri.

According to Geisel, officials at Berlin’s office of criminal investigation (LKA) had sufficient evidence to arrest Amri on drug charges in November, mere weeks before he ran a truck into a busy Christmas market and killed 12 people while injuring 56. He then fled to Italy, where he was killed in a shootout with police in Milan.

Indications of a cover-up

Geisel also said that there were indications that staff at the LKA had acted to cover up their mistake. He has filed an official complaint and opened up an investigation into the matter, he told the press.

De Maiziere praised Geisel on Thursday, saying: “I have all respect for the decision of my colleague in Berlin to make this matter public.”

Amri’s drug offenses were previously reported to be minor, and thus not enough for an arrest warrant. However, according to the new allegations, police in Berlin had a warrant to tap his phone through June 2016 and thereby gained enough evidence to detain him for his involvement in the drug trade.

Officials declined judicial permission to monitor him through October, and recorded his crimes as minor in a report filed in November.

This is the second time that official negligence has been blamed for failing to prevent Amri’s attack. Ralf Jäger, the interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, where the Tunisian national originally tried to claim asylum before being rejected, was accused of failing to properly asses the danger Amri posed.

At a Bundestag debate on the matter on Thursday, Social Democrats (SPD) accused Chancellor Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) of “not wanting to hear,” that “mistakes were made all over Germany in the case of Amri.” The opposition Green party called for an official investigation into the oversights that led to the Berlin attack.

Kultur

The German term "Heimat," often translated as "homeland," was long thought of as tacky, regressive, and even politically dubious. But since the election, German politicians across the spectrum are using it once again.

Das Kino

This month's Berlin film festival, Europe's first major cinema showcase in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein revelations, will shine a light on sexual misconduct in the industry, its director said on Tuesday.

Gesundheit

In the run-up to international World Cancer Day on Sunday, experts have said that about half of all cancer cases in Germany could be prevented by a healthier lifestyle. Across the country, around 500,000 people are diagnosed with cancer each year. But experts say things like exercise could cut this figure in half. “Movement can […]